Hilarimorphidae Williston, 1896

A small family related to the Bombyliidae and including small (2.0-5.0 mm) and dark grey flies. Characterised by the holoptic head in males and the dichoptic head in females; flagellum oval to conical, depressed laterally and terminating with a short, two-segmented style. Discal cell of wing not developed, and four radial veins present. The immature stages and development of the European species are not known. Adults occur in sandy places along rivers and ponds.

Only two species in one genus are known to occur in Europe (Pape 2007), and both are also recorded from Central Europe. The record of Hilarimorpha singularis in the PCV2 (Rozkošný 1997) was based on two earlier reports from Slovakia (Chvála 1977, Szilády 1934); no additional record has been published since then.

The basic characteristics of the family in the Palaearctic region are given by Nagatomi (1997), and some distinguishing characters for the two Central European species are mentioned by Chvála (1977).

For financial support, the Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic and the Masaryk University, Brno (grant No. MSM 0021622416) are acknowledged.